Under-Rated Thriller! Rains At His Best

This under-rated Universal thriller from 1935 boasts a superb performance by Claude Rains as the opium-addicted choirmaster John Jasper, whose obsession with pupil Heather Angel leads to madness and mayhem. Rains lurks around somewhat as he did in the later PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, and he's ably supported by Angel, Valerie Hobson (this was the year of BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN for her), Douglass Montgomery, the wonderful Francis L. Sullivan and an eerie performance by Zeffie Tilbury as "The Opium Woman." Extremely well done, and directed by Stuart Walker who also directed WEREWOLF OF LONDON (which Hobson also appeared in) that year.

My only complaint about this film? A somewhat intrusive and distracting musical score - some scenes would have been better without any music at all.

"I don't use a pen: I write with a goose quill dipped in venom!"---W. Lydecker